Our E-volunteer Tamara Milovanović makes her first appearance in the IYNF media giving an insight of the Serbian reality when it comes to environmental awareness and education.

“When I got the first task to write something about my environment, a lot of things came to my mind. First, if I write the truth, my opinion about the environment in which I live, and how people treat it – will it be rough and will it maybe present my country in a bad light?

Then I remembered one small practice which I got as a participant of one youth exchange program – that through a short scene presented the attitude towards recycling in our countries. And I got really surprised. Each country showed the scene as very problematic. Then I realized that most people do not care much about their environment, regardless of where they come from, and that there is a small percentage of those who are struggling to change something about it – which is also the case in Serbia.

Of course they exist, and they do their best, although they do not have a lot of support.

The truth is that we do not have a lot of requirements for recycling, there is a small number of places where we can dispose of recyclable waste, and we are not educated and warned about the importance of saving water and electricity, which says a lot about the environment we live in.

I was very interested in projects like “Charity: water”, a place where you can start your campaign and help people who need water to survive.  It’s amazing how many opportunities internet is giving us and that is the reason why I am very optimistic about our future.”

Tamara Milovanović, IYNF e-volunteer

On the left, Tamara at the Earth Hour in Belgrade. On the right, “Forgotten Arts Museum” showcasing many everyday objects and materials recovered from the trash.